Jack Stilgoe
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jackstilgoe.bsky.social
Jack Stilgoe
@jackstilgoe.bsky.social

Professor in Science and Technology Studies, UCL @stsucl.bsky.social. Science policy, responsible innovation, emerging technologies. Book https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-32320-2. Responsible AI UK (www.rai.ac.uk) .. more

Political science 18%
Sociology 17%

Saw the Headhunters live last week. Same drummer and percussionist as in this vid (50 years ago). Still absolutely crushing it. Mike Clark's technique (aged 79) is extraordinary. www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6u4...
Herbie Hancock & The Headhunters – Watermelon Man and Chameleon (Live on The Midnight Special, 1975)
YouTube video by Jazz Video Guy
www.youtube.com
Trump Threatens To Sue BBC Over Misleading Edit Of ‘The Vicar Of Dibley’ https://theonion.com/trump-threatens-to-sue-bbc-over-misleading-edit-of-the-vicar-of-dibley/
A piece I wrote about the manufactured ‘impartiality’ panics that greeted Tim Davie’s arrival just over 5 years ago, when GB News was still a glint in Robbie Gibbs’ eye www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
William Davies · Short Cuts: Woke Conspiracies
A British equivalent of Fox News, wherever it may come from, would have its own distinctive character – less...
www.lrb.co.uk

Reposted by Jack Stilgoe

US-EU copyright law differences mean that The Hobbit will be in the public domain in the US before the EU but The Lord of the Rings will be in the public domain in the EU before the US
Switzerland is joining Horizon Europe!

We are uniting two research powerhouses.

For cutting-edge innovation that will boost our energy security, digital transformation, health and so much more.

Today is a good day for science, and for our EU-Switzerland partnership.
Assistant Prof job in history of science (related to water?) at Madison. Strong program, nice town (aside from winter)

jobs.h-net.org/jobs/69456
Professor of History | H-Net Job Guide
jobs.h-net.org
Investors’ ‘dumb transhumanist ideas’ setting back neurotech progress, say experts
Investors’ ‘dumb transhumanist ideas’ setting back neurotech progress, say experts
Fascination of investors such as Elon Musk with uploading their brains to computers is hindering progress in curing disease, say scientists
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Jack Stilgoe

I'm delighted that Nell Greenfieldboyce used my quote about "Corn flakes Jim" in her obituary of James Watson on @npr.org. I got that from my interview with @ewanbirney.bsky.social. Birney nobly tried to persuade Watson that the science on race + IQ did not hold up. Sadly, Watson couldn't hear it.
James Watson, who co-discovered the structure of DNA, has died at age 97
James Watson, who co-discovered the structure of DNA has died at age 97. He was a scientific superstar until he made racist remarks that made him an outcast.
www.npr.org

Reposted by Jack Stilgoe

Race was the issue that exposed the bankruptcy of Watson's genetic determinism. In the 20th century, he made his reputation by staunchly championing the power of DNA. In the 21st, he torpedoed that reputation the same way. That is the great tragedy of James Watson.

19/n #JDWxNC
Okay, here are some first reflections on Watson.
Watson's life is a tragedy, really of Shakespearean proportions. He did not, as most bios will tell you, do one great thing when he was young and then collect laurels for it for the next 60 years. His career arc was unlike any in science.

Reposted by Jack Stilgoe

One thing that gets overlooked is that Watson's racism was intimately connected to his misconceived ideas about genetics.

James Watson was not just a scientist who was a racist. He was worse - a scientist who offered other racists the comfort of scientific authority.
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
Pretty interesting job to run @jrf-uk.bsky.social - social change organisation proposing policy interventions that address poverty; and supporting social innovation. £165k. Based in York
starfishsearch.com/jobs/jrf-gro...
Group Chief Executive Officer - Starfish Search
starfishsearch.com

Phew

We should all remember that Musk’s ‘pay package’ definitely isn’t a cool trillion because those robotics targets are hilarious. Unless of course he can redefine what counts as ‘robotaxi’ and ‘humanoid’
I've been a bit distracted at work, so I've asked my manager for a trillion dollars in exchange for doing my job

It's up there with "change the culture"
For political hacks like myself, 'put it in the curriculum' is the oldest and hattiest of old hat policy ideas.

Why do we think schools should solve all our problems? What if we thought differently about life skills and civic education?

howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/schools-ca...
Schools cannot solve all our problems
The limits of ‘put it in the curriculum’ politics
howtorunacountry.substack.com

Beautiful. May this be bigger than Totoro!

New study suggests a creepy thing is correlated with a monetisable thing if you squirt in enough snake oil. Until people realise and start gaming it, at which point the whole thing obviously collapses.

Why did Walkers' absolutely baller move of trying to restandardise Cheese and Onion as blue never catch on?

Reposted by Jack Stilgoe

For political hacks like myself, 'put it in the curriculum' is the oldest and hattiest of old hat policy ideas.

Why do we think schools should solve all our problems? What if we thought differently about life skills and civic education?

howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/schools-ca...
Schools cannot solve all our problems
The limits of ‘put it in the curriculum’ politics
howtorunacountry.substack.com

I've been a bit distracted at work, so I've asked my manager for a trillion dollars in exchange for doing my job

Hmm. Not sure I agree. The hype is such that lots of people are likely to take the money while privately thinking 'it'll never work'...

Took it seriously or took the amount of money on the table seriously?

Let’s not forget it was also where we tested a bunch of Hydrogen bombs
For anyone still tempted to take Dominic Cummings at all seriously, he's now an advocate of Donald Trump-style open racism.

Yes. And Eric Klinenberg's "2020" book was a pretty nice example.

😮. So they bought their own story but couldn't sell it to others? BTW, the reporting is excellent, and the visuals are gorgeous. The hazards of architecture by autocrats.

I'm genuinely interested to know if anyone ever took The Line seriously. Did anyone truly invest their hopes and/or millions in this Vapourtown?
NEW: The End of the Line: the centrepiece of Saudi Arabia’s Neom gigaproject - a 500m tall, 170km long wall-like building intended ultimately to house 9 million people - can’t get out of the ground, say more than 20 former Neom architects, engineers and senior executives.
ig.ft.com/saudi-neom-l...
End of The Line: how Saudi Arabia’s Neom dream unravelled
Mohammed bin Salman’s utopian city was undone by the laws of physics and finance
ig.ft.com
A quota of 15% of school places should be given to pupils eligible for free school meals to ensure they have an equitable chance of attending an effective school, @bristoluni.bsky.social research suggests
Call for schools to have FSM pupil places quota
Giving pupils who receive free school meals priority for 15 per cent of places in schools could create a more equitable admissions system, researchers suggest
www.tes.com